UK student facing trial for spreading pro-liberty propaganda

Started by Syt, November 12, 2012, 08:21:38 AM

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Syt

November 12, 2012, 08:21:38 AM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5017444/Student-facing-trial-over-writing-on-pavement-in-chalk.html#

Quote
Student facing trial over writing on pavement in chalk

A university student is facing a trial for criminal damage after writing two civil liberties messages on the pavement in chalk.

Paul Saville, 23, a second-year sociology and criminology student at the University of the West of England, Bristol, was arrested, locked in a cell for two hours and forced to give DNA samples.

His "crime" was simply to write on a pavement "Liberty. The right to question it. The right to ask: "Are we free?" in protest over what he says in the "loss of civil liberties" in Britain.

Mr Saville has pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal damage "under the value of £5,000" in Bristol, and is awaiting trial.

He said: "Children use chalk on the streets for hopscotch and some cafes advertise with chalk on the pavement so I don't understand why they treated me like this.

"I don't think I have done anything wrong. I considered it to be a fun way of conveying my message. The whole reason I was writing in chalk was because I wanted to get my message across without causing lasting damage."



Police confirmed that Mr Saville has been charged and is due to appear in court next month. A spokesman declined to comment further due to the pending court appearance.

Mr Saville said that on the first occasion he was staging a one-man protest near a new shopping centre in Bristol about the "loss of civil liberties" in Britain.

He wrote on a pavement: "Liberty. The right to question it. The right to ask: "Are we free?"

He claimed that a short time later four policemen approached him and asked him to stop. He said he wrote one more letter and was then arrested.

He says he was taken to the nearest police station in a van. He was then photographed, fingerprinted, forced to give DNA samples and kept in a cell for more than two hours.

Police also examined photographs on his digital camera before releasing him under caution, he said.

About a month later he carried out another similar pavement protest, during which he wrote: "As the buildings go up, the wages go down."

Police approached him and checked his records "to see who I was", he said. He was taken to a police station and underwent the "same procedures", before being charged, he added. He said he had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

He said: "This is normal playground chalk. I was merely highlighting the point that we are losing civil liberties in the UK. This is something we should be thinking about.

"To arrest and prosecute me is a waste of the court's time, police time and taxpayers' money."

He added: "You could say what I was doing was deviant behaviour but I never thought I would be arrested.

"If these really are such dangerous times surely the police could use their time and resources more effectively than this.

"I am sure people will say it was a bit daft getting caught twice but I feel adamant that I should be standing up and speaking out for my rights.

"I understand that if everyone started using chalk all over the place it would be a mess but surely people can see how ridiculous this is."

Mr Saville has been charged by police. The Crown Prosecution Service reviews each case it receives from police to make sure it is right to proceed with the prosecution.

A CPS spokesman said last night (Thurs): "We have requested all of the evidence from the police and will review the case when we receive it."

Thread title with intentional hyperbole.

Ok, that sounds weird, even for the UK.

So: Is this the full story? Did he resist the officers? Or block traffic or anything?
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

Gups

#1
November 12, 2012, 08:26:30 AM
He got told to stop. He carried on. He then got cautioned - i.e. don't do it again or we'll arrest you again. He did it again and got arrested. He is surprised.

Neil

#2
November 12, 2012, 08:29:33 AM
Fuck this guy.  When they tell you not to graffiti, and you keep doing it, you're not into freedom.  You're into being a douchebag.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

Brazen

#3
November 12, 2012, 08:41:27 AM
When was the last time you saw children playing hopscotch or found a friendly stationers where you could purchase ordinary playground chalk?

CountDeMoney

#4
November 12, 2012, 08:43:07 AM
My nieces are accomplished driveway chalk artists.  BUT THEY DO IT ON PRIVATE PROPERTY

Valmy

#5
November 12, 2012, 08:47:11 AM
Quote from: Neil on November 12, 2012, 08:29:33 AM
Fuck this guy.  When they tell you not to graffiti, and you keep doing it, you're not into freedom.  You're into being a douchebag.

Graffiti for writing in chalk?  It will wash away as soon as it rains, and this is Britain so it will shortly.  That just seems considerate to me, if he was using spray paint I could see you point.   I am not sure the severity of a 'criminal charge' though.  If this is like a community service small fine situation then no biggie. 
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

garbon

#6
November 12, 2012, 08:52:42 AM
Quote from: Brazen on November 12, 2012, 08:41:27 AM
When was the last time you saw children playing hopscotch or found a friendly stationers where you could purchase ordinary playground chalk?

Within the past year.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

garbon

#7
November 12, 2012, 08:55:03 AM
Quote from: Gups on November 12, 2012, 08:26:30 AM
He got told to stop. He carried on. He then got cautioned - i.e. don't do it again or we'll arrest you again. He did it again and got arrested. He is surprised.

Which seems to dovetail nicely into his point. We now must comply with police demands even when it is to desist a most innocuous action.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Gups

#8
November 12, 2012, 08:58:56 AM
"Now"?

Anyone sensible does what they are told by the cops except in extremis. In the old days you'd get a kicking, these days you get arrested and suffer a small fine.

And, of course, this is all his side of the story. I bet he called them fascist pigs or similar.

Richard Hakluyt

#9
November 12, 2012, 08:59:29 AM
It seems a shame that the police themselves can not be charged with wasting police time  :hmm:

Ed Anger

#10
November 12, 2012, 09:00:22 AM
Or if it is American cops, you'll hear the CLICK CLICK of the tazer going off.
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

Martinus

#12
November 12, 2012, 09:12:56 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on November 12, 2012, 08:59:29 AM
It seems a shame that the police themselves can not be charged with wasting police time  :hmm:

In Poland last weekend a guy was fined for wearing a horse mask while standing near a memorial service in the street.



I fully agree with you that the police should be penalized more often for being idiots.

Martinus

#13
November 12, 2012, 09:13:36 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on November 12, 2012, 09:11:20 AM
Another knobhead has been arrested for burning a poppy and posting it on facebook :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2231660/Free-speech-row-man-ARRESTED-posting-image-burning-Poppy-Facebook-page-Remembrance-Sunday.html

What the fuck. It seems as if the UK is a police state or something. At least here people usually just get fines (and it's too much imo anyway).

Martinus

#14
November 12, 2012, 09:14:58 AM
Quote from: Gups on November 12, 2012, 08:58:56 AM
"Now"?

Anyone sensible does what they are told by the cops except in extremis. In the old days you'd get a kicking, these days you get arrested and suffer a small fine.

And, of course, this is all his side of the story. I bet he called them fascist pigs or similar.

I thought you were a lawyer. The police do not have a right to demand a citizen to do anything they please - they can only ask within the bounds of law.
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